Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivered his second State of the Nation Address on Monday, vowing to defend his country’s sovereignty in the increasingly tense South China Sea.
Mr. Marcos, who came into power last year, pledged to uphold the Philippines’ sovereign rights and assured Filipinos that his administration would not let the country “loses any of its territory.”
“We will protect our sovereign rights and preserve our territorial integrity in defense of rules-based international order,” he added, referring to the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal that ruled in favor of the Philippines’ legal claim in the South China Sea dispute.
Mr. Marcos said the Philippines would persistently pursue dialogue and diplomatic approaches to address any issues while prioritizing his people’s interest in the government’s foreign policy.
Mr. Marcos, the son and namesake of a former Filipino dictator, has shifted from his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte’s pro-China stance and deepened ties with the United States, the Philippines’ sole treaty ally in the Indo-Pacific.
Under his leadership, the U.S. military has been granted increased access to Philippine military bases, and joint patrols in the South China Sea—which Manila refers to as the West Philippine Sea—were resumed.
The guidelines state that any armed attack on either of their public vessels, aircraft, or armed forces, in the Pacific and the South China Sea would invoke the U.S.-Philippines 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.
In the wake of the Philippines’ growing ties with the United States, Chinese leader Xi Jinping courted Mr. Duterte last week, urging him to continue playing “an important role” in promoting relations between their countries.
Mr. Marcos regarded Mr. Duterte’s meeting with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader as an interaction “between friends” and said that he welcomed any new lines of communication between the two nations.
“I knew that he was going to go there. They are friends, they know each other,” he said July 18, The Manila Times reported.
China’s Refusal of Tribunal Ruling
Beijing claims much of the South China Sea as its own territory under its so-called nine-dash line. The Hague Tribunal ruled in favor of legal action taken by the Philippines in 2016, although it had little to no impact on China’s actions.The CCP has rejected any claim or action based on the 2016 ruling and has argued that it “gravely violated” the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
In April, more than 100 Chinese maritime militia vessels, a People’s Liberation Army Navy corvette class, and two Chinese coast guard vessels were spotted sailing around Philippine-controlled areas for days.
“The PRC’s [People’s Republic of China’s] irresponsible behavior in the South China Sea threatens the security and legal rights of our treaty ally, the Philippines,” U.S. envoy MaryKay Carlson wrote on Twitter.
Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Brunei have also clashed with the Chinese regime over its claims in the South China Sea.